Judges tosses out drug charges against Geneseo man

A Henry County Circuit Court judge Wednesday dismissed drug charges against a Geneseo man, saying he didn’t find probable cause to support the charges.

Jamie M. Gustafson, 21, of Geneseo, had been charged with manufacture or delivery of cannabis between 30 and 500 grams, a Class 3 felony.

Kewanee Police investigator Nicholas Welgat of the Blackhawk Area Task Force testified that 60 ounces of cannabis was found Aug. 27 inside a buffet drawer near the kitchen in a Geneseo home for which authorities had obtained a search warrant. Scales, packaging, heat seal bags, smaller baggies and drug paraphernalia were found on the kitchen table in what Welgat described as a “pot station” where cannabis is packaged to be distributed and sold.

When police went to the door of the home at 201 Oakwood Place, Gustafson answered the door, but said he did not live in the house.

Welgat said several tips came to Crimestoppers concerning the Oakwood Place address in Geneseo as a place where there were a lot of people coming and going, and that cannabis was sold there.

Welgat also testified that a man recently arrested in Chicago told police he sold approximately half a pound of cannabis to Gustafson at that address about a week before the search warrant was enforced.

Defense attorney James Cosby argued that the state had not proven a connection to Gustafson and the address, and presented the possibility Gustafson may have been dividing up the cannabis in smaller quantities to take with him instead of the entire amount.

Judge Richard Zimmer ruled there was not enough of a connection to warrant probable cause, and the case was dismissed. Gustafson had been held on $25,000 bond.